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POETRY
November - - - - - - - - 7
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With Our Inquirers
"If ye will inquire, inquire ye."
[All questions to this department will be answered which to the editors will seem to minister to the good of the readers and to the mission of the paper. The same question can not be answered repeatedly in the same volume. The name and address must accompany question, not for publication, but as an evidence of good faith, and that answer may be made by letter if deemed advisable. It is well always to enclose a stamp for reply.]
2279.—Blessing Out of Affliction.
Why do the righteous suffer such seemingly unaccountable affliction? For instance, an earnest Christian woman, a poor widow, has an only son for help, and he is stricken by death.
L. W. C.
Often poor, finite mortals can not see the wisdom of God's course. He always reveals to us enough of His character so that we can trust Him where we can not see. Sometimes sickness and death are the result of sin, transgression, sometimes of the individuals, sometimes of their ancestors, and God in His inscrutable wisdom allows the consequences to follow the act, permits the harvest of the seed-sowing. Sometimes He permits these things, as He did the man to be born blind, in order that the glory of God may be manifest; and the manifestation of that glory is not always in the healing of the affliction, but in the development of character under trying circumstances. He never permits a vacuum to be made in any life but what He is longing to fill it with His own glorious presence. If He takes a husband, He will be more than a husband to the widow. If He takes a father, He will be more than father to the children. If He takes the strong stay and support of a son, His promise is, "Even to hoar hairs will I carry you." Sometimes it is necessary to take away all earthly support and earthly help in order that the soul may learn to trust in God; but if they trust, they shall never be put to shame nor confounded, world without end.
"God's ways seem dark, but soon or late
They touch the shining hills of day;
The evil can not brook delay,
The good can well afford to wait."
Like Jacob, our human hearts cry, "All these things are against me," but sometime those who trust in God shall see as did Jacob that the Lord is ordering all things for our salvation. Let those who are afflicted dwell upon such Psalms as the 37th, 49th, 73d, 107th, 116th. Sometimes God allows precious souls to pass thru affliction in order that they may comfort others with the comfort wherewith they themselves are comforted of God. 2 Cor. 1:3, 4.
2280.—Secret Societies.
Is the Seventh-day Adventist Church opposed to secret societies? If so, why? Is there any Scripture for it?
G. B. H.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church finds no need of secret orders or societies in any way, because Christianity itself meets all the needs that secret societies are organized to meet, and confers all the blessings which secret societies could confer. If the church of the Lord Jesus Christ had lived up to her privilege, there would never have been any reason for secret societies to grow up in her midst. Man has longings for certain kinds of fellowship and certain kinds of assurances; he has not found them in the church and therefore he has tried to supplement this by organizing for protection in man. Out of this has grown of course a great many other things in ornate display, in high-sounding titles and positions, in secrets to the initiated, which if told to the uninitiated would profit them not one particle, as the various revelations of all the secret societies have shown.
The secret societies are based on purely selfish principles of doing good simply for the brotherhood. Christianity is based on truly unselfish principles, the very foundation of which is, "If any man will deny himself;" and therefore its streams of benefit flow out not to strong men and women who are able to become active members of certain societies, but to the feeble and helpless, the old man in his dotage, the young man in his nonage, the cripple and the feeble. Christianity will regard the chastity, and do all in its power to convert to chastity, not only the wives and daughters of its own members, but the wives and daughters of the world.
As to its secrets, Jesus said, "I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagog, and in the temple, . . . and in secret have I said nothing." John 18:20. Again, He told His disciples that what He had said to them in secret, that they should proclaim openly. There are secrets, mysteries, between Christ and His disciples, but they are the mysteries of experience only, open to every soul who will yield himself to the Lord Jesus Christ. So while Seventh-day Adventists wage no open warfare against secret societies, it is invariably true that all who join them with full heart find all that they need in Christianity, and invariably see no further need for lodge relationships. Seventh-day Adventists have seen some reasons why secret societies came in, and therefore have not felt to condemn all who belong to secret societies; but they do believe there is something better. To that better thing they invite souls.
2281.—The Holiness Movement.
What can you say of the holiness movement which is spreading so rapidly over the eastern sections of the country, claiming three works of grace—conversion, sanctification, the infilling of the Holy Spirit? Is sanctification instantaneous or is it a growth? Are the queer actions sometimes manifest in holiness meetings prompted by the Holy Spirit?
A. M. W.
We are not personally acquainted sufficiently with holiness meetings to express anything in regard to them. There may be those who are truly sincere and blessed of God, and doubtless there are the counterfeits. We know that some of their theories in regard to the three works of grace are certainly unscriptural. There are such things, of course, as conversion, sanctification, and the infilling of the Holy Spirit, but that does not mean that one comes to-day, the other some days or weeks or years later, and the other another additional experience later on. They express different attitudes and different things.
Conversion is turning from sin and selfishness and the world to God, and is well expressed in some translations by "turning," "turning again." It is turning around in will and purpose, and giving oneself to God.
Sanctification means setting apart. It has its instantaneous phase and its progressive phases. Its instantaneous phase comes on the part of the believer when he wholly gives himself to God. God accepts that and it becomes a matter of growth in the Christian life, in which that giving himself to God is constantly in exercise, as he meets the tests and trials of life. Another as good definition of sanctification is separated from and separated unto—separated from the world, separated unto God; separated from the world and set apart to God and His service. The Lord denominates all such His saints, and He calls them that when they are all imperfect. See the first of the epistles of Romans, Corinthians, etc. But His children never call themselves that. They never say that we are sanctified, or that we are saints. The highest title which they can consistently take to themselves is that of servant—"Paul a servant," "Peter a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ," literally a "bondslave" of God.
The infilling of the Holy Spirit in the sense of the Scriptures is not a constant experience. Again and again we read that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit on special occasions. It does not mean that they were without the Spirit at other times, but God gives His Spirit and His power as men need it.
You may have access to a pamphlet written some years ago, consisting of ten chapters, by Mrs. E. G. White, on "Bible Sanctification." The office does not have it in stock at the present time, but if you can secure it, it will give you the clearest, fullest idea of the steps and examples of what Bible sanctification truly is. Read the life of Daniel the beloved of God, and of Paul the apostle to the Gentiles.
There are times when the power of the Spirit of God upon people leads them to act in a way that critics might call insanity. They said of Peter and the other disciples that they were drunk. They were hilarious perhaps with joy, and yet hilarity of any sort would not prove this, or that, or the other thing. The only right method of weighing such movements as that is the word of God. Does such work lead to prayer, devotion, earnest study of God's word, and the doing of that word?
2282.—The Everlasting Covenant.
What is God's everlasting covenant? Is it "Obey and live"? If not, what is it?
L. D. W.
God's everlasting covenant is that relationship between the believer and Himself in Jesus Christ, by which the believer is saved. If we understand "Obey and live" aright, it is comprehended in that expression. We would prefer to put it, "Believe and live," for the man who will truly believe will be the man who will truly obey. Originally man stood in the very current and fulness of God's life; he took himself out of that current; faith brings him again into that same current of life. The term obey is sometimes used in the case of believing, or rather yielding to the command to believe, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Obedience would be yielding to that injunction. Obey and believe are used synonymously in John 3:36, A.R.V. It is a great deal better to express it in the other way, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, or faith in God thru Christ. "Without faith it is impossible to please Him." That is a great eternal truth, true before man fell, true during his fallen condition, true throughout all eternity; for that in which we have faith is that which molds and shapes and revives and purifies. The finite then is ever looking to the Infinite, the imperfect to the Perfect, the child to the all-wise Father. Therefore there is constant growth in grace, in knowledge, in fulness, in development. That everlasting covenant is the new covenant, not new because its teachings first existed, but new because confirmed by the death of Christ, later than other covenants were confirmed. The last Sabbath-school quarterly covers the ground of the covenant, and if the term "Obey and live" were understood in the light of the other teachings of the pamphlet there would be no trouble over the expression.
2283.—The Sun and the Day.
How do you explain Gen. 1:3, 4, 14-16? In the first two verses we read that God made light on the first day and in verses 14-16 it is said that the sun and moon were not made until the fourth day. If the sun was not made until the fourth day, how was there light on the first day, and the darkness divided from the light?
C. D.
Our understanding of the first chapter of Genesis is that the sun was made in the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth. The six days was the making of the earth, or bringing it into condition for the habitation of man. The first step of the six days' work was the bringing in of light and the dividing of the light from darkness. Still the earth was enswathed with thick clouds of vapor. The second day there was a firmament, or, margin, "expansion," in which the waters, held in dense vapor, were divided, some of them lifted as clouds and others deposited upon the earth. And that condition continued until the fourth day. The fourth day the clouds cleared and the light of the sun, as the sun, shone in. God made those lights, but not until the fourth day could they shine upon the earth. We see no reason to believe that the light did not come from them on the first day; on the fourth day, to one who might be on the earth, they were visible; so that the language there describes the visible changes which took place on that day.
The Word of the Living God
THE sweet psalmist of Israel, by the inspiration of the Spirit, sang: “I will worship toward Thy holy temple, and give thanks unto Thy name for Thy loving-kindness and for Thy truth; for Thou hast magnified Thy word above all Thy name.” Ps. 138: 2.
VERY sacred indeed is the name of God. “Great and terrible,” and “holy and reverend is His name.” Ps. 99: 3; 111: 9. One precept of the Decalogue guards its sacredness: “Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.” Ex. 20: 7, A.R.V. When one among Israel blasphemed the Name, he was put to death. Leviticus 24. God declared the meaning of Jehovah to be “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness and truth; keeping loving-kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty.” Ex. 34: 6, 7. This is a part of the record of how Inspiration regards the wonderful name, the covenant name of our God.
YET notwithstanding the holiness and awfulness of the Name, the psalmist declares that God has magnified His word above His name. “Magnify” usually means to make to appear larger than it is; but the original word means to twist together, to make larger. So God has magnified, made larger, exalted His word. His “word is truth.” John 17: 17. And in God's revelation of that truth, it comes to us interlocked and intertwined and interlaced, a strong and mighty power to hold and stay the soul which relies upon it.
ONE might not know the exact pronunciation of God's name, the scholarship of the world generally concedes that we do not know; yet we may be saved by the power of the Name. We are not benefited by the mere term. It would mean little to us unless the word disclosed its wealth. It is by that word that all the glories of God's character are revealed. “God is love,” and the word tells it. He is just and merciful, wise and holy, true and faithful; and such is the revelation of His word. “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made.” His words are spirit and life. His word is living and powerful, “a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” His word “is truth.” And in the hearts of the receivers it works out characters like that of God. 1 Thess. 2: 13. Very many of the miracles of Christ are left on record to show those who should come after the power of the word to save.
JESUS CHRIST is the Incarnate Word, the word made flesh. John 1: 1, 14. He was what He was in the flesh because of that word. He was the word transformed into living character. None more highly exalted it. “Learned” higher critics now quibble over Deuteronomy, fritter it away, discount its message, and otherwise belittle it, but the Incarnate Word thrice drew from its mighty arsenal the thunderbolts by which He vanquished the tempter. “It is written” was ever sufficient. Matt. 4: 1-10. How sad it is to see those who profess His name putting forth the effort they are, subtly, speciously, deceptively, to tear down or undermine the very word which was given by the Spirit of Christ, for which as Jesus He ever showed the highest reverence, and to which He rendered unquestioned obedience, and of which He said, “The Scripture can not be broken.”
HE it was then of whom the Father spoke, “Without Him was not anything made that was made.” “To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom [“thru whom,” A.R.V.] are all things, and we by Him.” 1 Cor. 8: 6. By His Spirit the prophets spoke who “testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” 1 Peter 1: 10-12. And therefore when He came in the flesh and taught the word, He was but expounding that which the Father had given thru Him to men.
THEN let us receive it as the word of God, the word of Christ. Let Him, as He did with His disciples of old, expound unto us “in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself;” and as we enter into His companionship, we shall say, “Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?”
THE inspiration of God's word reveals its importance. That it might be forever “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroly furnished unto all good works,” God gave it by inspiration. Man needed infallible, unchangeable teaching, adapted to every age and time, but which neither the ages, nor the tempers of men, nor various sects, nor the influence of infidelity, could mold; therefore He gave a “God-breathed” rule of doctrine. “It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” Conscience is a creature of education, often “evil” and “defiled;” but God's4word is truth; its doctrines are pure, elevating, exalting, cleansing, confirming, and it offers to the believer everlasting hope in Christ, sure and steadfast.
A Great Earthquake.
The seismographs of the world report on October 16 what they declare to be the greatest earthquake since the Valparaiso disaster. As yet it is not located, probably occurring out in the waters of the Pacific Ocean somewhere. It was reported at Berkeley at 6:45 occurring whether due north or south, it is impossible to tell. The two government seismographs, one at Cheltenham, Md., and the other in the Weather Bureau at Washington, D. C., recorded it at 9:30 A. M. The motion of the instrument was so great as to carry the recording lever far beyond the margin of the sheet. Its amplitude seemed to be as great as four-tenths of an inch in Washington. In Albany, N. Y., the vibrations were traceable for an hour and the record shows that the disturbance originated about three thousand miles from Albany, and the vibrations of one of the instruments were so violent as to exceed its limit for registering. The direction seemed to be to the south and southwest. The official bulletin declares, "The only disturbance comparable in violence that has been recorded this year is the earthquake of April 14th which was so destructively felt in Mexico." At John Hopkins University the shock was the strongest recorded since the Valparaiso shock. Professor Reid declares that it was of remarkable strength. It was also reported at Isle of Wight, England, and at Labaich, Austria, it lasted two hours and a half.
"Unity."
Dr. John Wright, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church of St. Paul, Minn., believes that the crowning glory of the 20th century should be the visible unity of Christendom, which could be brought about by five great church dignitaries. These are the pope, the metropolitan of Russia, the supreme patriarch of Armenia, the archbishop of Canterbury, and the presiding bishop of the American Episcopal Church. Two-thirds of all the Christians of the world, he declares, are under the guidance of these dignitaries. They represent churches that are somewhat akin, and he believes that if they would get together, all the lesser sects would follow; but desirable as such a thing would be, certainly that is not the thing to seek. The true thing to seek is not a mere union of the masses but union with the Lord Jesus Christ in truth; all other unions will care for themselves if that is truly effected.
The Drink Bill.
One of the most conservative of New York papers, the New York Tribune, says that the drink bill of the United States is $1,410,236,702. This is a little less than our estimate in our Missions Number, and yet a whisky man declared that ours was too low rather than too high. It says, "All the corn, wheat, rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, and potatoes put together will not pay that bill. The liquor traffic costs more each year than our whole civil service, our army, navy, and Congress, the river, harbor, and pension bills; all we pay for local government; all national, state, and county debts; and all the schools in the country. In fact, this government pays more for liquor than for every function of every kind of government." Think of it!
Our Bible Band.
WE are receiving many gratifying responses to our Bible Band. Some of these ask for application blanks, and others make their application thru letters. We have been a little slow in getting our application blanks and cards printed, but they will soon be out now, and all will be furnished who comply with conditions.
Let us state again our plan and conditions. They are,—
1. To read the Bible thru next year, beginning with Jan. 1, 1908.
2. To publish in the SIGNS OF THE TIMES the chapters to be read each week, with a short synopsis of the ground covered, and with accompanying articles at times, together with the best data on the various books of the Bible.
3. To answer all questions from our Bible Band members in the SIGNS OF THE TIMES if they are proper questions for the paper. These questions should be upon Biblical, religious, and historical matters, answers to which would minister to more than childish curiosity. All religious questions will be answered from the authority of the Bible only, or upon reasonable deductions from Bible truth.
4. Questions from Bible Band members requiring answer by mail should enclose two-cent stamp.
5. Bible Band members contribute ten cents for the purpose of defraying extra expense involved in the printing of cards and the conducting and directing of the reading.
6. The SIGNS OF THE TIMES will give first consideration to Band members in the answer of questions.
We request those outside the Band when questions are answered by mail to enclose ten cents in stamps. If published answer is required enclose two-cent stamp, as reply by letter may be necessary.
On all matters requiring information of no profit to him who gives it a stamp should be enclosed. This is a small matter of expense occurring only occasionally; but where from twenty to one hundred letters are received in a week, the burden becomes too heavy. It is of small moment to the individuals who ask; it means much labor and oftentimes expense to the party who answers. For instance, just recently several postal cards have come in asking questions which involve considerable search, one of them necessitating writing to others, to whom, of course, we must enclose stamps. Is it not best that the burden be more equally distributed? We are sure that our readers will agree with us, even the thoughtless postal-card questioners. Our sole purpose is to help our readers.
Now let us hear soon from all who wish to go with us on our Bible journey in 1908. Application blanks will be sent, and cards returned as soon as the blanks filled out are received.
Sunday-Law Agitation.
THE main article in our Outlook Department will show quite fully the agitation that there is, and is bound to be, over the Sabbath question. The sad thing is that instead of becoming a Bible investigation it is taking on a demand on the part of Christians for a legal Sabbath. It crawls in in almost every conceivable form; it creeps into our municipal and State legislatures as a police regulation, a temperance measure, in favor of the workingmen, and its latest phase is for the special benefit of the theater-goers. Los Angeles has a pastor in one of its Baptist churches, Mr. W. F. Ireland, a cousin of archbishop Ireland of the Catholic Church. Mr. Ireland when in early life was an actor. Wishing to introduce a Sunday law into Los Angeles, he made as a pretext that the actors themselves would be very greatly benefited by closing the theaters on Sunday, and consequently brought before the City Council of Los Angeles a measure with that end in view, signed by nearly all the pastors in the city, but, strange to say, not signed by any of the theater people. Petitions were circulated in favor of the measure and a number secured. It is reported that thousands were signing the petitions. A full account of this will be given in future issues from our representative, Mr. Blunt.
What we wish to note here is that the movement is like all other political movements, seeking to establish itself by every means to which politics can resort, and that not even honorable politics. And yet we would not misjudge all who are connected with the movement. The proponents of such measures may be divided into two classes; first, those who believe that the day ought to be kept free from all traffic and show which are proper and allowable on other days; and, secondly, those who want the evils suppressed wholly, and if not able to suppress them all the time, feeling that one-seventh of the time is better than none. There are two classes of opponents to such measures; first, those who want the traffic carried on because of the profit and pleasure, and whose hearts are in harmony with the evils; secondly, those who are opposed to any legislation in support of a religious institution.
Of the proponents we sympathize with the second class. We believe it would be better for society and communities in general, and especially for the youth, if there were no saloons nor vile theaters, but we do not believe that the suppression of these evils for one day of the week will help matters. To suppress the saloons or the theaters on a religious day only is to politically honor and protect the religious day, a thing which should never be done in a free country. And such action admits the necessity, at least, if it does not tacitly approve, of the evils on six days of the week. Such measures form the opening wedge of a church-and-state union, a fearful curse of the ages, and they do not remove the evils which they seek by law to suppress. We therefore oppose Sunday legislation, not because it centers around Sunday, but because of the nature of the thing itself. As earnestly and determinedly would we oppose it if it centered in the seventh day.
We have no sympathy with the first class of opponents of the measure. Liquor drunk on one day will make a man as maudlin and ugly as on another. A low theater performance—and the critics tell us that that is about the character of all theaters—has the same effect on the mind one day as on another. The only true political remedy is the total suppression all the time of all such evils upon which it is proper to legislate; the only true religious remedy is the power in Jesus Christ and His word and Spirit. When Christians leave that word, turn from that promise of power, for political aid, they forsake the fountain of living waters for the broken cisterns of men; they forsake the Rock of Ages to lean upon the broken reed of Egypt, which pierces those who trust it.
We decidedly object to being allied with saloon forces or theater-goers. Our ground of opposition to Sunday legislation is on an entirely different basis, and this basis is the very genius and spirit of Christianity itself. God left every conscience free to choose or to reject any and every religion, and any and every religious institution, and it does not lie properly within the purview of the State to meddle with any of them. If the minds of the people generally were enlightened in regard to the true principles which underlie Sunday legislation and the history of the thing thru past ages, there would be no question as to their position upon it; and if Sunday-keepers knew the power and Gospel of Jesus Christ, they would never demand it.
The Word of the Lord
By Abdiel
Translations and Versions.
THE Bible is God's revelation in word to the children of men. That Book contains sixty-six divisions, or books, or letters, written by many different men, upon different subjects, at different times. These men were of different walks in life. Some were kings, some priests, some scribes, statesmen, accountants, physicians, scholars, herdmen, fishermen. The stamp of the individual, of his limitations, his environments, his training, is upon his writings, even as the stamp of a musical instrument is upon the music produced, yet the Incarnate Word speaks thru the Bible writers, even as the master musician speaks thru the often defective musical instruments. "All scripture is God-breathed." "The Spirit of God spake by me, and His word was on my tongue." "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth."
The inspiration pertains therefore to the words; because, first, man could not comprehend the ideas of God so as to express them in his own words; secondly, the prophets did not themselves understand what God revealed thru them (Daniel 12); and, thirdly, the revelation was given for all time to come.
The inspiration must pertain only to the original words, not to the translations thereof.
What assurance have we, then, that we have the word of God, when the original copies are lost, and but few of the people can read the translations?
In reply we will say, we have every reasonable assurance that we have the revelation of God's will.
1. Those who copied the original were generally superstitiously careful to copy exactly.
2. Different ones copied, and their copies, or copies of their copies, agree. On the whole no serious mistakes have been made, and these have been quite generally detected.
3. Those who have translated the originals have according to their light and scholarship endeavored to express the meaning of the words of the original. In this matter not only has scholarship been at stake, but honesty also, and men have not alone been anxious because they wished to truly express God's word translated, but they have been ambitious as scholars to present translations which would meet the approval of other scholars, who might be of different theological thought.
These reasons have assured us reasonably accurate translations.
The Best Translation.
There are many English readers who think the "King James," or "Authorized" Version, or Common Version, the only thing which ought to be used, and who consider it almost sacrilegious to use any other version or translation, and this because the Gospel has come to them thru this channel. They would not thus act in any other matter of importance.
To illustrate: Suppose that a family in America should receive a letter from India, declaring that this family, among others of the Aryan race, were heirs to large estates and much wealth in India. The original of this letter was written in Sanskrit, a tongue not understood by the heirs. Several copies were made of the original by persons widely scattered. The original was lost or worn out. Copies were made of these copies, one of which reaches America. The heirs have a translation made of this Sanskrit copy, and are overjoyed. Other translations are made by better scholars which correct a few minor errors and confirm the first translation.
After a long time, as certain enemies criticize and throw doubt upon the matter, some of the heirs are determined to learn all they can about it. They visit other lands. They examine the old libraries of other members of the family, they gather other translations, in French, in Greek, in Latin, in Syriac, made from earlier copies of the Sanskrit original. They obtain in their search very early copies in Sanskrit from different sources. Scholars among the heirs collate these, critically and carefully examine them, find a few mistakes in their copy and translation, and, aided by the best of scholarship, make a new translation, which is truer to the original, clearer and more consistent, and which confirms the older but less perfect copy and its translation.
Which would these heirs prize the more, the earlier or later translation? For every reason, the later one. It is made from earlier copies of the original, which from the places where they were found show them to be not copies one of the other. Discovered translations in other tongues from still earlier manuscripts confirm it. The later evidence becomes the strongest of evidences to the authenticity and the truth of its contents.
So it is with God's word. The original copies were worn out, destroyed, or lost. But these were copied, and copied, and copied, for centuries, and in all these repetitions some mistakes were bound to creep in. From these later copies and the imperfect Latin Vulgate the earliest English versions were translated: the Wyclif Bible, in 1382; Tyndale's Bible, 1535; the Coverdale Bible (the first printed in English), 1535; Matthew's Bible, 1537; Taverner's Bible, 1539; the Great, or Crammer's, Bible, 1539; the Geneva Bible (the first printed in Roman with divided verses, popular for more than half a century), 1560; the Bishop's Bible, 1569; the "Authorized Version" (never authorized, however, by king, church, or state, but appointed to be read in churches in the place of the Bishop's Bible), 1611.
The Revised Version, 1885, and the American Standard Revised Version of 1901 stand preeminent among the later translations. Of these the American is the later and better. Its translators and revisers had at their command all the benefits of Biblical research for three centuries. This gave them access to the very earliest manuscripts discovered, as well as the earlier translations of these manuscripts. As a result we have a splendid translation, more consistent, more uniform, more correct, than any translation ever made. This is acknowledged by the scholarship of the world. It presents as does none other the will of our heavenly Father to His children.
Some of its better features, with the editor's permission, will appear next week.
ABDIEL.
Words.
By L. H. Hunting
E VERY Scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness.' A.R.V. When we have the exact words which the writer, inspired by the Holy Spirit, used, not one of these words can be exchanged for a different one with advantage or without injury.
If Solomon, in Ecclesiastes, uses words which were not in common use among his people before the captivity, but were used in the Euphrates region, it was best that he should do so; being acquainted with the literature of the East these words were a part of his language, and the use of them shows that the book was written by one in his circumstances, and is therefore genuine.
If John uses the words true and truth in the sense of real and reality (John 1:17; Rev. 21:5, and elsewhere), it was best for him to so use them. If he uses the word own ('so then,' 'therefore,' 'to return to what I was saying,' etc.) more frequently than others do, that is right; it is a part of his language.
If Paul uses the words just, righteousness in a Pauline sense, it is because they were the best words for him to employ.
It has been said that no two persons speak the same language. And thus it is that the words used and the peculiar shade of meaning in which they are used serve to identify the writer; and the words and their peculiar use demand careful study.
In different parts of the Bible, by different writers and in different ages, the Creator is called by different names. And in no instance can the name used be exchanged for a different one with impunity. Each name has its own peculiar significance and force which should not be overlooked. Thus God in Gen. 1:1 to 2:3 is translated from Elohim, meaning the Almighty. It would seem that men knew and worshiped the Creator only as the Almighty for 235 years, till at the birth of Enosh they 'began . . . to call on the name of Jehovah.' Gen. 4:26. In Genesis, second and third chapters, the writer of what the critics term the second 'tract' calls Him LORD God (Jehovah Elohim), while Eve and the serpent are quoted as calling Him simply 'God,' that is, Elohim, the Almighty. While, therefore, what is called the first 'tract' copied by Moses into the book of Genesis (Gen. 1:1 to 2:3) may probably have been written before A.M. 325, this second6one (Gen. 2:3 to 3:24) must have been written after the birth of Adam's third son Sheth, A.M. 235. Eve and her children had by this time learned that her first-born son was not the promised 'Seed,' the looked-for, longed-for Son of Man.
There are other names by which the Creator is called in the Scriptures; and each has its own use and meaning. Then, too, Jehovah and Elohim ('LORD' and 'God,' in the old version), are the most common. And they are translated by the apostle John, writing by inspiration, in Rev. 1:8; 4:8, as, He 'who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.' If, then, we ask the full meaning of the name of Jehovah, it is not merely the Eternal; it includes past, present, and future—He 'who is and who was and who is to come.' He has revealed Himself in the past, is revealing Himself now, and will complete the revealing of Himself in the future.
In Rev. 11:17 He is called only 'Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast;' the 'who is to come' is omitted; for this is after the revelation of Himself which He is making in this present evil world (see Rom. 9:17, 22, 23) is completed,—the mystery (something that was unknown but is now revealed, as the word always means in the New Testament) of God is finished (Rev. 10:7).
The name, then, by which He is called in any given passage is not a matter of no consequence. If He is called God, it is that we may think of Him as the One in whom is all power, the Almighty; if LORD, in the Common Version, or Jehovah in the American Revised Version, the Holy Spirit calls our attention to Him as the ever-living covenant God; if Lord, it is as Master and Ruler. To observe the name will often give fuller sense and greater force to the passage.
There are many other words worthy of careful study. Such are repentance, faith, obedience, hope, charity (or love), grace, mercy, and peace; also church, baptism, and Sabbath. The loose or mistaken use of the last three words is the source of support of many harmful errors. The Bible writers, guided by the Holy Spirit, always use words with precision. Perhaps it might be said the devil hates careful and precise use of words. In this matter let us strive to displease him. 'That your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment; so that ye may distinguish the things that differ.' Phil. 1:9, 10, marginal reading.